The Handmaiden's Necklace. Kat Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ with the distance between the two countries, even the most lavish costumes seemed slightly out of vogue.

      Still, the people here had a strong, rugged independence that Danielle admired and respected. They were their own people, these Americans. She had never met anyone quite like them.

      Danielle turned away from the window and walked over to join her aunt, who stood next to the cut-crystal punch bowl. During the two weeks since her arrival, Dani had settled comfortably into the narrow brick row house Aunt Flora had let for her stay in America. At present, Dani and Caro resided there with her in the charming, colonial-style home.

      After Dani’s wedding, three weeks hence, she and Caro would move into Richard’s home on Society Hill, and once they were settled, Aunt Flora would return to England, accompanied by a companion she hired for the journey.

      Dani would remain with her husband in Philadelphia, a completely new and different world. She was grateful Caro would be staying, as well.

      She took a sip from the cup of punch Aunt Flora slid into her hand.

      “Here comes Richard,” her aunt whispered, smiling at the blond man who approached from across the parlor, what the Americans called a drawing room. “He is certainly a handsome man.”

      She cast Danielle a sideways glance, trying to read her emotions where Richard was concerned, but Dani kept her features carefully blank.

      She liked Richard Clemens enough to accept his proposal, but she wasn’t in love with him. And she didn’t think Richard was more than moderately enamored of her. He was a successful, practical man who needed a wife to replace the one who had died in childbirth and a mother for his two children. Over time, Dani hoped, their affection would grow deeper.

      “Ah, Danielle—there you are.” He smiled and she returned it.

      “I saw you talking to Mr. Wentz,” she said. “Since you and he both own textile manufacturing companies, I imagined the two of you were talking business.”

      He reached down and caught her hand, gave it a squeeze. “Very astute. I sensed that from our first meeting. A man with a wife who understands her role can be a tremendous asset to her husband’s business.”

      Dani continued to smile. She wasn’t exactly certain what role Richard expected her to play, but in time she supposed she would figure it out.

      “Actually Jacob Wentz is in the dye manufacturing business. His plant is in Easton, not far from Clemens’s Textiles.” Richard turned for a moment to speak to Aunt Flora, and as the pair made polite conversation, Dani studied the man she was to wed.

      Richard stood slightly above average in height, and he was attractive, his hair a deep golden blond and his eyes a mixture of brown and green, turning more one color than the other, depending upon his mood.

      She had only begun to know him during his time in England. He’d been attentive and interesting, an intelligent man, successful in his business endeavors, a widower who seemed to find her attractive. Here he was different, more driven. Here, business always came first. At times it seemed to consume him.

      “If you will excuse us for a moment, Lady Wycombe,” Richard said, “there is a gentleman I would like Danielle to meet.”

      “Of course.” Aunt Flora gave him a last warm smile, turned her attention to the matron standing next to her and they began to pleasantly chatter.

      Dani let Richard guide her across the parlor, a well-designed room with molded ceilings, Aubusson carpets and Chippendale furniture. Even the furniture in the houses she had visited seemed decidedly American, mostly mahogany, with smooth lines and graceful curves, pretty lace doilies and high-backed Windsor chairs.

      Richard covered her hand where it rested on the sleeve of his tailcoat as they wove their way among the guests, stopping for a greeting here and there. It was obvious by the way people deferred to him that her fiancé held a high place in Philadelphia society. In fact, there were times he seemed overly concerned with it, but perhaps she was mistaken.

      He stopped in front of a tall, burly, gray-haired man with mutton-chop sideburns. “Senator Gaines, it’s good to see you.”

      “You, as well, Richard.”

      “Senator, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Danielle Duval.”

      Gaines made a very polite bow over her hand. “Miss Duval, you are every bit as lovely as Richard has said.”

      “Thank you, Senator.”

      “Senator Gaines was once ambassador to England,” Richard told Dani. To the senator he said, “Danielle’s father was the Viscount Drummond. Perhaps you met him while you were abroad.”

      One of the senator’s thick gray eyebrows went up. “I’m afraid I never had the privilege.” He tossed Richard a look. “So you’ve caught yourself the daughter of a viscount. Quite a feather in your cap, old boy, if I do say so myself. Congratulations.”

      Richard beamed. “Thank you, Senator.”

      “When’s the wedding? I presume I’ll be invited.”

      “Of course. We’d be very disappointed if you couldn’t attend.”

      They spoke a moment more, then Richard said a polite farewell and so did Dani. She tried to ignore the uneasy feeling the conversation had stirred. Richard seemed so concerned with her background, so impressed that she was a member of the English aristocracy. It seemed to come up at every party they had attended since her arrival.

      “Richard! Do bring your lovely bride-to-be over here for a moment. We’ve a guest tonight I would like the two of you to meet.”

      Dani recognized their rotund little host for the evening, Marcus Whitman, a wealthy farmer Richard had introduced her to at a musical affair they had attended last week. Since her arrival, her fiancé had insisted on attending one affair after another.

      “I want you to have a chance to get acquainted with my friends,” Richard had explained.

      Dani had hoped they would have more time to themselves, a chance to get to know each other better before the wedding. So far, she had only met his children once and then only briefly.

      “Good evening, Marcus.” Richard smiled. “It’s been a lovely party. Thank you so much for hosting the affair.”

      “My wife and I were pleased to do it. Before he died, your father and I were friends for nearly twenty years.”

      Richard politely nodded. His father was often mentioned at these events. Apparently he had been quite a respected man in the community. “You said there was someone you wanted us to meet?”

      “Yes, yes…indeed.” He turned and touched the coat sleeve of a tall man standing behind him, drawing the man’s attention.

      “Richard, I would like to introduce you to an acquaintance from London, a friend of a friend, if you know what I mean. Rafael Saunders is the Duke of Sheffield. He’s here in Philadelphia on business.”

      Shock ricocheted through Dani. She felt as if the floor had just tipped sideways. She could feel the blood slowly draining from her face.

      Whitman СКАЧАТЬ